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When Thumba took off
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The 39th anniversary of the setting up of the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) falls on November 21. Here is an interesting tale on the birth of India's first rocket launching site.
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Life at Thumba in the early 70s. There were no proper transport facilities and hence the rocket nose cone had to be carried on a cycle!
It was 39 years ago, on November 21, that a small rocket took off from Thumba on the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram, announcing the birth of the modern space age in India. That was when the Thumba Equatorial Rocket Launching Station (TERLS) formally came into existence. Over the years, TERLS have given birth to the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) and to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
The two men who launched the Indian Space Programme at Thumba in 1963 were Homi Bhabha and Vikram Sarabhai. But there were others too, less famous, but equally responsible for choosing Thumba as the site for TERLS. Prominent among them are E. V. Chitnis and P. R. Pisharody. Having retired as the Director of the Space Applications Centre, Ahmedabad, in 1985, Chitnis now lives in Pune. He is 77. Pisharody passed away on September 24 this year in Pune, at the age of 93.
Born on February 10, 1909, at Kollengode in Kerala, Pisharody took his doctorate from the University of California. A meteorologist of international repute, Pisharody is widely acknowledged as the one who introduced remote sensing in India. Endearing and charming, Pisharody spoke English, clearly pronouncing every syllable. This only added to his rustic wit and humour, qualities rarely found among Indian scientists.
Pisharody was a storehouse of anecdotes and stories. We narrate one such story told to us by Pisharody himself. But to appreciate it fully, a short digression on geomagnetism is necessary.
A `Nike-Apache' (sounding) rocket being made ready for launch from TERLS.
The term `geomagnetism' refers to the fact that earth behaves like a magnet. That is why a compass needle (itself a tiny magnet) always points towards `north'. In the northern hemisphere, the north-seeking end of a compass needle when freely suspended in the middle, would, in general, dip down. The angle by which the needle dips depends upon the latitude of the place. Similarly, in the southern hemisphere, the south-seeking end dips down. In between is a region where the needle does not dip at all. It remains strictly horizontal signifying that the dip is zero. The line joining all such points on earth where the dip is zero is called the magnetic equator. The magnetic equator differs significantly from the geographic equator. Directly above the magnetic equator, at altitudes of around 110 km in the atmosphere, a system of electric currents exists. Known as the equatorial electrojet, this has always fascinated scientists. The closer you are to the magnetic equator, the better placed you are to study the electrojet. In the early 1960s, there were very few places in the world close to the magnetic equator with adequate infrastructure to support research in this field. There was talk of finding a suitable place in south India for establishing a U.N.-sponsored station.
Now, with this background, let us go to the story Pisharody told us on April 4, 1995, in Pune, about how Thumba was selected for establishing TERLS.
"In 1962, Bhabha made a grand statement, which I still remember. The statement was: "We are on the same ground floor as the western nations. They are leading us only by about 4-5 years... Hence in the course of 10-20 years we must be able to equal them." Yes, Bhabha assumed that space research would start with the launching of Sputnik in 1957. That was a remarkable statement with a lot of foresight in it.
Sarabhai at that time was not into space at all except that he had done some cosmic ray research.
We had earlier carried out a survey of the magnetic fields in Thiruvananthapuram and its neighborhood as part of the International Geophysical year (1956-57). And then we found that the magnetic equator was passing through Quilon (now Kollam).
Dr. Vikram Sarabhai and Dr. Homi Bhabha at Thumba
People came to know that a search was being carried out to put up a station.
The Kerala Government was particular that they should have the station; money would come. (Pattom) Thanupillai was the Chief Minister (in 1962). His objective was not science. His objective was to have a place of importance. Just like America and the U.N. America gave them the building and the place. Why? Otherwise, the U.N. would have been in Geneva. The Mysore Government also did the same thing. It gave them money and land, and the Indian Institute of Science went to Bangalore. So, politicians can be wise...
And then there was a bungalow that was vacant. The CM had given instructions: Whatever Sarabhai wants as infrastructure, produce it there. Kochu Koshi was the collector then. Sarabhai also felt that there was an advantage with Kollam, because there was Ashtamudi, the extensive back-water lakes. `Ashtamudi', means `eight branches, eight plaits (of hair)'. Sarabhai said, "If anything goes wrong, instead of going to the sea the rocket falls here which is again unpopulated''. This was an advantage.
And the magnetic equator was passing through the point. All were for setting up a rocket polishing station there. The area is known as Vellanathurthu.
At dinner, Sarabhai said: "Let's have it (our station) here."
I said: "Vellanathuruthu means `the sandbar of the white elephant."
``Pisharody, why do you want to annoy me?'' asked Sarabhai. "I'll not have it here at any cost! No white elephant. The Government will not like it, the United Nations will not like it. We won't get it through. I can't. Shift it. Find another place."
At that meeting Chitnis was there; he had walked around a lot (in search of a suitable place). He said: "There is place called Thumba near Trivandrum. It has its own problems. There is a church there''.
I explained: "Because the Thumba plant is growing in abundance there, the place is called Thumba. It is a medicinal plant with white flowers... "
And the rest is, of course, history.
JAY RAJA
MANORANJAN RAO
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